Posts

Showing posts from September, 2010

$5 Chair Freshened Up

Image
I spotted this chair at a yard sale a few weekends ago, in slightly worse condition:o) My sister in law was with and me, and we had a really good time. Every time she comes to visit we end up going to yard sales, and every time she says she needs to remember to bring cash. She never gets anything, and I end up spending every last cent that I have on me. I think I even borrowed 25 cents from her??? But regardless, we had a good time. So this is what the chair looked like when I brought it home: I liked the white, but it was dingy, and the previous owner had brushed the paint on, so there was a lot of uneven brush strokes all over the chair. In it's first life, I think this chair was RED. You can kind of see the red popping thru in places where the white has chipped off.  Now the seat cover was completely disgusting. It was vinyl at one point, but because the chair is so old, it was cracked and peely. When I removed the cover, there will little creepy crawlies in it too...EWWWWW!  Be

Pumpkin Bread

Image
Yesterday I got a wild hair and went thru my entire house and started cleaning. I got so much accomplished. I even recovered one of my yard sale chairs I found a couple of weeks ago. While taking a short break, I ran across  this  printable at  it is what it is ...(the hubs uses that phrase all the time;o)). Then, I went over to Just Deanna, and I found her recipe for  pumpkin bread . I had a plan:o) The hubs picked up the ingredients I didn't have on hand on his way home from work...such a good hubby:o) And I got to baking. I wanted to make some bread for E's teachers. I used my mini bundt pan b/c I thought they looked like little pumpkins. While the bread was supposed to be cooling, little sneaky hands found their way over to the counter top. (Singing) One of these is not like the other.... The work of a two year old:o) I added the Hershey bars in the center to look like stems. I wish that I had some mint leaves on hand. I think that would have added to the pumpkin look. I pu

Quiet Book

Image
I finally did it! After a year and a half of wanting to make S.R. her very own quiet book, I finally made it:o) I was not coming to bed last night until the last stitch had been sewn. I was exhausted. My back ached from hunching over my machine, but I feel that it was well worth the effort!  (the highlighter is there to cover S.R. full name...we like to keep just a tad bit of privacy;o)) This project took about 3 days from start to finish. Of course it wasn't 3 Full days, but it does take time and thought to put one of these books together. I tried to think of S.R.'s favorite things. These pages tell you a little bit about my sweet little girl. She LOVES shoes. Every morning when she wakes up, she tracks down the first pair of shoes she sees and puts them on, whether it be her heels, or a pair of E's flip flops. When she makes her grand entrance every morning, she models her shoes. It's hysterical:o) This spread is a representation of her bedroom. Now, the color scheme

Mickey Shorts & Random Crafts

Image
So I guess you are thinking that it's about time that I made these shorts, since I have been talking about making them for a few weeks now:o) I made them last night and it only took 20 minutes. My only excuse for not making them is pure laziness. I am trying to wrap up a few Disney things b/c our trip will be here sooner than we know it:o) The kids are so excited...I AM SO EXCITED! I used my usual pattern for shorts, and just added large white circles on the front. The circles are white felt that I added some Heat Bond to, and adhered them to the front of the shorts. I did stitch around the edges of the shorts, just in case:o) I am currently trying to put Busy Bags together for my kids. We are going with friends, girls in one vehicle, boys in the other, so I need to make sure that E's bag is packed with the right stuff b/c the hubs isn't eactly creative when it comes to entertaining the little ones:o) He's a good daddy, but 12 hours is a long time to keep someone occupi

Hopelessly Stumped Banking Corporation

HSBC is a solid, and perhaps staid, bank. It rode the financial crisis reasonably well and generally stays out of the headlines. Surprising then to see it on top of the financial news for the last five days thanks to a messy succession saga. Here's what happened. Successions in HSBC are very orderly. The Chairman retires to tend to his garden somewhere in the English countryside. The CEO becomes the Chairman. The senior most executive being groomed for years, takes over as CEO. All very dignified and solemn. The Board congratulates itself over many glasses of the finest bubbly. The money continues to pour in and all is well in the world. This time the script went wrong. Stephen Green , the current Chairman, had indicated in May that he wanted to retire in a year's time. A search firm was duly appointed to recommend that there were no suitable outside candidates so that the pesky shareholders can be told to keep quiet. But suddenly Stephen Green was asked to join the UK cabinet

Dining Room Curtains

Image
Just a little something I whipped up yesterday. I love floor to ceiling curtains! These curtains have completely transformed the room. I didn't want to go out and purchase a brand new curtain rod b/c they are mucho expensive, so I used two smaller ones I had on hand. I also had some shower curtain rings that I got at a yard sale last year for $1. I put large button holes in the tops of the curtains, and just slid the curtain rings thru. Ole Dave(Ramsey) would be proud;o) I figured that the hubs wasn't going to be adding the trim in the dining room anytime soon, so I decided to go ahead and put my china back in the hutch:o) Some fall love. More things I had on hand.  The pictures are really bright b/c I had to use my external flash. There isn't enough natural light this time of year that comes thru the dining room window, so I had to use my flash.  It really doesn't do the mood of the room justice:o) Happy Friday to you all!!! Linking up to tatertots and jello under the

Jobs for Life

Jobs for life ?  A quaint and obsolete concept ? Not even dinosaurs would think of such an idea ; Right? Don't snigger. No less a company than Siemens has done just that in Germany . My first reaction was, of course, what on earth has Siemens done. Has it simply bowed to the pressure of the mighty German trade unions ? The power of trade unions in Germany is well known. The country has adopted a model for a cosy relationship between workers and managements. Confrontations, when they come, are often less intense than might be seen in other parts of the world. Wages are high. Its not easy to lay off workers.And yet Germany remains a massive industrial success; it remains the largest exporter in the world neck to neck with China.  The arguments for flexibility with work force are well known. But why has Siemens opted for giving jobs for life - and that too in high cost Germany ? There must some arguments on the other side of the debate as well. There surely are.   If we turn around th

Pumpkin Painting

Image
Another Bottle and Brush Creation. I went with  my friend Amy last week to paint these pun-kins. This picture is only 12x12, but it took FOE-EVUH to paint. There was a lot of shading and blending. I am happy with the end result though. Still working on the mantle. Adding a little here and a little there. I can't believe that September is almost over. Time is going by too quickly. Starting to miss the lazy days  of summer, but I am definitely ready for some cooler weather:o) A little close up:o)  We started the Dave Ramsey envelope system on Monday. All I can say is WOW. It's harder than I thought it was going to be, but I am staying on track and realizing how much money I was actually spending...OUCH! I am working on some curtains today for the dining room. They are just regular panels. Hoping to have them hanging this evening before I head out to Bottle and Brush AGAIN. There is a painting that I have been dying to paint and the artist is demonstrating it tonight, so I HAVE to